The Royal house of Trengganu represents one of the junior male lines of the Bendahara family of Johor. They trace their descent from one Aidarus of Aceh, in Sumatra, a Sayyid originating from the Hadramaut in Southern Arabia. His descendants came to rule over four different states, Johor, Trengganu and Pahang in Malaysia and Lingga in Indonesia. In 1717, Zainal-Abidin, the younger brother of the Sultan 'Abdu'l Jalil IV Ri'ayat Shah of Johor established control over the eastern provinces of the kingdom with the title of Maharaja. He secured recognition as the first Sultan of Trengganu from his nephew Sultan Sulaiman I Badr ul-'Alam Shah of Johor in 1725. His descendants claim to be the senior male-line descendants of the Johor sultans, and thus the rightful heirs to the honours of that kingdom.

For a brief period during the late eighteenth century, Trengganu dominated the East Coast of the peninsular, including Kelantan. The sultanate fell under nominal Siamese influence during the early nineteenth century, but suffered from several periods of fratricidal civil war. The Siamese were powerless at achieving either political or economic stability. By the end of the century some accomodation had been reached between the various parties, resulting in a form of joint rule where power was shared amongst them. At one time a reigning Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan Besar, sharing power with a deputy or Yang di-Pertuan Muda. State debts continued to grow at an alarming rate, causing considerable difficulty to the Siamese Treasury. Eventually, Trengganu, along with Kedah, Kelantan and Perlis, were transferred to British protection under the terms of the Anglo-Siamese treaty of 1909. Britain paying all th Sultan's outstanding debts and assuming responsibility for them from 1911.

The state remained one of the unfederated Malay States until the Second World War. The Japanese invaded in 1941, deposed the reigning Sultan in favour of their own candidate, and transferred the state back to Thai control in 1943. The state was freed from Japanese occupation and the rightful Sultan was restored onthe return of British troops in 1945. The inhabitants of the state opposed plans for the Malay Union in 1946 and the state joined the new federation of states on 1st February 1948. It joined the other states of the peninsular to form the independent Federation of Malaya on 31st August 1957 and became a state of Malaysia on 16th September 1963.

STYLES & TITLES:The ruling prince: Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan dan Yang di-Pertuan Besar Terengganu Dar ul-Iman, i.e. Sultan and Head of the State of Trengganu, with the style of His Royal Highness.
The Royal consort of the ruling prince: Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tengku Ampuan Besar, i.e. the Tengku Ampuan Besar, with the style of Her Royal Highness.
The non-Royal consort of the ruling prince: Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Inche' Puan, with the style of Her Highness.
The Heir Apparent: Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Muda Terengganu Dar ul-Iman, i.e. the Heir Apparent of Trengganu, with the style of His Highness.
The Royal consort of the Heir Apparent: Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Tengku Puan Muda Terengganu Dar ul-Iman, i.e. the Tengku Puan Muda of Trengganu, with the style of Her Highness.
The non-Royal consort of the Heir Apparent: Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Inche' Puan Muda Terengganu Dar ul-Iman, i.e. the Tengku Inche' Muda of Trengganu, with the style of Her Highness.
The Regent: Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Pemangku Raja Terengganu Dar ul-Iman, i.e. the Prince Regent of Trengganu, with the style of His Highness.
Other male members of the Royal family, descended in the male line: Yang Mulia Tengku (personal name) bin (father's title and name).
Other female members of the Royal family, descended in the male line: Yang Mulia Tengku (personal name) binti (father's title and name).
The junior wives of the ruling prince, the Heir Apparent and other princes: Yang Mulia Inche' (personal name) binti (father's title and name).

The senior male members of the Royal family usually receive a princely title of honour in addition to those by right of birth. The order of precedence of such titles is as follows: